One of the more unusual games to be released in recent
memory,
Boktai; The Sun is in Your Hand is an Action RPG that forces you to rely
on the
power of sunlight to defeat your vampiric foes. Although Boktai has a
lot of
charm graphically and sonically, itís plot and certain aspects of itís
combat
system fail to impress. Overall, Boktai is a strange bird with some
unique
ideas, something that deserves credit in any medium.

Any discussion of Boktai has to begin with the solar
sensor. The
cartridge juts out about a centimeter from the lip of the GBA, revealing
a
black square set in amongst the circuitry. This sensor can discern the
presence
and intensity of sunlight, which affects not only the performance of the
Gun
del Sol, your main weapon, but also the behavior and strength of the
undead
Django hunts. This extremely unusual brand of game mechanics is what
makes
Boktai such a fun game - running around desperately trying to find
enough
sunlight to destroy a vampire is more than enough to draw the player
into
Boktaiís world, to make them want to be intimately involved in the
affairs of
the young hero.

Itís a pity, then, that Django doesnít have much in the way of
affairs
to be involved in. While the idea of playing a young vampire hunter is
oddly
compelling, the story that Boktai serves up is built largely upon
clichť.
Django ends up facing everything from a long-lost brother to the "will
of the
universe", just like every other two-bit fantasy hero. In the end, and
although
I applaud Hideo Kojimaís efforts in gameplay, the story should have been
left
to someone with more experience in writing.

By and large, Boktai is only barely
an RPG.
Django does not level up or gain new abilities on his own, but must find
them
in the form of grenades, frames, lenses and batteries for his Gun del
Sol. And
of those, only the lenses level up. No information is given to the
player about
EXP gained or EXP required for the next level. The level cap for each
lens is
three, making it very easy to sit down and have a maxed-out lens a mere
hour or
so after gaining it. Given the time to complete - only 10 to 20 hours -
and
the unique mode of gameplay that Boktai offers - in many cases, the
player is
directed to avoid fights rather than seek them out - perhaps such a
limited
customization scheme makes sense, but it does limit the choices
available to
the player.

Perhaps because of this low completion time, Boktai
includes a
number of features to improve itís chances of being replayed; beyond the
New
Game + feature, Boktai has a series of emblems that unlock doors in the
gameís
optional dungeon, as well as a ranking system that provides a score, a
rare
item based on that score, and a lengthy password that can be entered at
Konamiís website to obtain information about your game.

800% interest! I think these guys are sending me to college!

While the control scheme of Boktai is largely easy to
acclimate to
once the strange isometric view is conquered, and while it does do a
decent job
of providing fluid access to multiple specialized techniques, there are
portions of the interface that never quite work well enough. In
particular,
flattening against a wall to avoid an enemy can take a toll on your
fingers,
and more than once I found myself accidentally firing off a grenade by a
slip
of the L Button. The constant switching of elemental lenses and grenades
really
should have been streamlined, particularly given the amount of Trap and
Boss
battles that require the player to switch around parts of the Gun del
Sol on a
moments notice.

The music of Boktai is passable, but what really shines
is the
voice acting. Somehow, Konami managed to get the GBAís piddling little
speaker
to produce fairly good quality voices. Of course, due to the limitations
of
data storage, only one voice track is available; the English one. But it
appears, looking at the credits, that this was the only one produced.

Iíve said it before, Iíll probably say it again, the best
localization is the one you donít notice. Despite a small amount of
mixed
Japanese and English in the voiced lines, the translation is nearly
flawless.
Lines flow naturally, with no obvious mistranslations or other errors.

Boktai boasts an unusual visual style perhaps
best
described as Vampire Hunter D meets a box of Crayolas. While most of the
areas
are dark and sinister, particularly at night, the characters boast
bright
colors and almost Pokemon-ish design. This brings forward an unusual
dichotomy
in Boktai. Despite its difficulty and the violent nature of the enemies
Django
fights, the game is clearly marketed towards a younger audience.

Looking back at Boktai, itís fairly obvious where the
developers
directed their attention. The gameplay is absorbing, intricate and
original,
but it comes in direct opposition to the plot, which is lackluster,
shallow and
clichť. Boktai is certainly not for anyone expecting to find the great
American
novel in a game, but if what you look for in a game is unique and
absorbing
gameplay, Boktai might just be for you.